Charlottesville suspect's beliefs were 'along the party lines of the neo-Nazi movement,' ex-teacher says

Former Cooper High School teacher Derek Weimer taught Charlottesville attack suspect James Alex Fields Jr. Weimer said Fields had beliefs that "very much along the lines of the neo-Nazi movement."
The Enquirer/Meg Vogel

Derek Weimer poses for a portrait in his home Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017. Weimer taught history at Randall K. Cooper High School in Union, Kentucky to James Alex Fields Jr., the man accused of killing one and injuring 19 Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia.(Photo: The Enquirer/Meg Vogel)

Former Randall K. Cooper High School history teacher Derek Weimer, 45, of Florence told The Enquirer in an interview that he was probably the closest to James Alex Fields Jr. out of everyone on the faculty.

“I’m sure if you would ask James he would say I was his favorite or one of his favorite teachers,” said Weimer, adding that he had Fields in three classes directly and had regular interaction with him after classes and during free time.

“I feel like I failed and that we all failed,” Weimer said of Fields, now a suspect in the Charlottesville, Virginia, attack on counter-protesters that left a woman dead and 19 others injured. “He was a very bright kid but very misguided and disillusioned.”

Weimer said that he knew of Fields’ political leanings early on. He said another teacher filed a report during Fields’ freshman year over something Fields had written for an assignment "that just went beyond the pale."

Derek Weimer poses for a portrait in his home Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017. Weimer taught history at Randall K. Cooper High School in Union, Kentucky to James Alex Fields Jr.(Photo: The Enquirer/Meg Vogel)

"It was very much along the party lines of the neo-Nazi movement," Weimer said.

Weimer didn’t know for sure if Fields’ mother was notified but said “that would have been standard procedure” and Cooper administrators “were very good about keeping parents in the loop.”

Fields' mother, Samantha Bloom, 49, told the Associated Press Saturday that she would be surprised if her son's views were so far right that he would attend a white supremacist rally.

"From what I remember, he was a quiet and reserved student," Cooper High School Principal Michael Wilson said, adding his staff sends thoughts and prayers to Charlottesville. "As educators, we are always using teachable moments and providing guidance to students to create college, career and life ready students to make good and sound choices."

In an interview with The Enquirer, Wilson said he was speaking for the entire district.

He described Fields as "quiet and reserved" but declined to discuss specific discipline or medical issues about Fields, citing federal privacy laws.

Wilson said faculty members were "torn" about the situation, saying they were worried about the vicitms of the incident but also concerned about their former student.

"We're all educators and we all are reflecting on what did we miss, or what could we do better," Wilson said. "We do that with any student who may have made a wrong choice.

"This is a tragic situation all the way around."

Weimer, who left the school in 2015, said he can’t recall any direct communication with Fields’ mother himself.

“A lot of boys get interested in the Germans and Nazis because they’re interested in World War II. But James took it to another level. He researched everything and had an intellectual argument for all his points, which is something you just don’t see that often.”

Yet Weimer also said that he encountered other students with similar thoughts, adding that the constant presence of the Confederate flag was an ongoing issue.

He recalled how an African-American cheerleader was very uncomfortable having to ride in a parade being carried by a pickup truck with a large Confederate flag sticker.

“There are definitely students with these kinds of thoughts and feelings … but normally if you present them with an intellectual argument, they can see both sides,” Weimer said. “But James was definitely different.

“And there are others like him out there – we as a society have to do a better job of figuring out how to reach them,” he said. “This isn’t something that happens overnight … it builds up over time and we need to pay more attention to this.”

Albert Running Wolf of Fort Thomas, chairman of the American Indian Movement of Indiana and Kentucky, gets a hug from a woman in the crowd after he spoke at the Stand in Solidarity with Charlottesville gathering in front of Cincinnati's City Hall on Sunday. The Enquirer/Carrie Cochran

Atia Huff of Clifton holds a "Love Trumps Hate" poster and "Heather Heyer didn't deserve to die" flyer at the the Stand in Solidarity with Charlottesville in front of Cincinnati's City Hall on Sunday. The Enquirer/Carrie Cochran

Stephanie Sweeney of Delhi, left, and Mary Sullivan of Westwood, right, hold an American flag at the Stand in Solidarity with Charlottesville in front of Cincinnati's City Hall on Sunday. The Enquirer/Carrie Cochran